Devious Political Tactics: A Field Manual

When political operators uses toxic tactics at work, we need not respond by descending into the pit right alongside them. Responding ethically and with integrity is almost always possible, if we can detect the devious tactics early enough. Here's a collection of fairly widely used political tactics, with some suggestions for ethical, but politically savvy, responses.

Hit and Run

When someone moves on from one high profile activity to another while the current effort is still underway, he or she might have knowledge (or suspect) that the current effort is at risk or doomed. Soon afterward, the project implodes, but the operator isn't charged, and often claims that the then-current owners of the activity are at fault.

If a project in your organization implodes dramatically, just after the departure of its leader or champion, investigate carefully before calling on her or him to rescue the project. Rule out "Hit and Run" before you get hit again.

The proxy target

Sometimes an attacker's true target isn't the person who's attacked. Rather, it could be the supervisor or mentor of the person attacked. By attacking the proxy target, the attacker diverts the attention of the true target, and might even harm the true target's reputation.

When attacked by someone much more powerful than yourself, don't assume that you're the true target. You could be a proxy. The harm done to you might be just as real, but knowing what's actually happening can be extremely helpful in formulating a response.

Confidential disinformation

When we confide in one another, the confider usually believes what is confided. That's one reason why we tend to believe what others tell us in confidence. Enhanced credibility explains, in part, why political operators sometimes tell lies — or partial truths — in confidence. And they also gain the protection of secrecy and deniability.

Don't assume that confiders believe everything they tell you in confidence. Verify and validate when you can.

The favored subordinate

Supervisors sometimes designate a favored subordinate who receives extra attention, multiple benefits, and who can seemingly do no wrong. Especially when this designation results from supervisor initiative — that is, when the designee hasn't curried favor — the supervisor has acknowledged and usually accepts the possibility that other subordinates will become resentful or demoralized.

Whether or not the favored When someone moves on from
one high profile activity to another
while the current effort is still
underway, he or she might know
that the current effort
is at risk or doomedsubordinate has sought special status, it's likely that the supervisor's intentional choice is a signal to other subordinates that they must either accept secondary status, or move on. Because there are rarely any limits to how secondary that secondary status will be, it's probably best to move on. You lose little, though, because the favored position is usually just another form of subordination, maintained only at the price of freedom and dignity.

Detecting these patterns in our own situations can be difficult, because we don't want to find them. Look for them first in the situations others face. When you become adept at spotting them there, examine your own.  Top    Next Issue

Is every other day a tense, anxious, angry misery as you watch people around you, who couldn't even think their way through a game of Jacks, win at workplace politics and steal the credit and glory for just about everyone's best work including yours? Read 303 Secrets of Workplace Politics, filled with tips and techniques for succeeding in workplace politics. More info

For more devious political tactics, check out the archive Devious Political Tactics.

Your comments are welcome

About Point Lookout

Thank you for reading this article. I hope you enjoyed it and found it useful, and that you'll consider recommending it to a friend.

Point Lookout is a free weekly email newsletter. Browse the archive of past issues. Subscribe for free.

Support Point Lookout by joining the Friends of Point Lookout, as an individual or as an organization.

Do you face a complex interpersonal situation? Send it in, anonymously if you like, and I'll give you my two cents.

Related articles

More articles on Workplace Politics:

Nasty Questions: I

Some of the questions we ask each other aren't intended to elicit information from the respondent. Rather, they're poorly disguised attacks intended to harm the respondent politically, and advance the questioner's political agenda. Here's part one a catalog of some favorite tactics.

How to Avoid Responsibility

Taking responsibility and a willingness to be held accountable are the hallmarks of either a rising star in a high-performance organization, or a naïve fool in a low-performance organization. Either way, you must know the more popular techniques for avoiding responsibility.

Why Others Do What They Do

If you're human, you make mistakes. A particularly expensive kind of mistake is guessing incorrectly why others do what they do. Here are some of the ways we get this wrong.

Failure Foreordained

Performance Improvement Plans help supervisors guide their subordinates toward improved performance. But they can also be used to develop documentation to support termination. How can subordinates tell whether a PIP is a real opportunity to improve?

Some Hazards of Skip-Level Interviews: III

Skip-level interviews — dialogs between a subordinate and the subordinate's supervisor's supervisor — can be hazardous. Here's Part III of a little catalog of the hazards, emphasizing subordinate-initiated skip-level interviews.

See also Workplace Politics, Ethics at Work, Managing Your Boss and Devious Political Tactics for more related articles.

Forthcoming issues of Point Lookout

Coming November 21: Make Suggestions Privately

Suggesting a better way of doing things can sometimes backfire surprisingly and intensely. Making suggestions privately reduces that risk, but introduces a different risk. Available here and by RSS on November 21.

And on November 28: Wacky Words of Wisdom: VI

Adages, aphorisms, and "words of wisdom" seem valid often enough that we accept them as universal and permanent. Most aren't. Here's Part VI of a collection of widely held beliefs that can be misleading at work. Available here and by RSS on November 28.

Coaching services

I offer email and telephone coaching at both corporate and individual rates. Contact Rick for details at rbrenaoKBCROkQSFdVYjgner@ChacHZswTfnFifxETjkAoCanyon.com or (650) 787-6475, or toll-free in the continental US at (866) 378-5470.

Get the ebook!

Past issues of Point Lookout are available in six ebooks:

• Get 2001-2 in Geese Don't Land on Twigs (PDF, USD 11.95)
• Get 2003-4 in Why Dogs Wag (PDF, USD 11.95)
• Get 2005-6 in Loopy Things We Do (PDF, USD 11.95)
• Get 2007-8 in Things We Believe That Maybe Aren't So True (PDF, USD 11.95)
• Get 2009-10 in The Questions Not Asked (PDF, USD 11.95)
• Get all of the first twelve years (2001-2012) in The Collected Issues of Point Lookout (PDF, USD 28.99)

Are you a writer, editor or publisher on deadline? Are you looking for an article that will get people talking and get compliments flying your way? You can have 500 words in your inbox in one hour. License any article from this Web site. More info

Public seminars

The Power Affect: How We Express Our Personal Power

Many people who possess real organizational power have a characteristic demeanor. It's the way they project their presence. I call this the power affect. Some people — call them power pretenders — adopt the power affect well before they attain significant organizational power. Unfortunately for their colleagues, and for their organizations, power pretenders can attain organizational power out of proportion to their merit or abilities. Understanding the power affect is therefore important for anyone who aims to attain power, or anyone who works with power pretenders. Read more about this program.

• A recording of a program presented 6:00 PM June 29 (Eastern Time), Monthly Webinar, Technobility Webinar Series. You can earn 1.0 Category 'A' PDU by viewing this program. View this program now.